Junk Food Rennaisance

[Sweetcherrie]

I am an absulute sugar addict, and my mouth waters when I read the ice cream descriptions of Wyvern.

 

There is an ice cream bar in Paris, where they sell home made Italian ice-cream, and I've never had anything better than their brownie ice-cream.

 

They bake the brownies separate, and I've had the luck to walk in when the brownies were in the oven. The whole place smelled of freshly baked brownies. It did mean I had to wait for a bit to get my brownie ice cream, but it was worth it.

I ended up with ice cream in which the brownies were still slightly warm, aboslutely the best ice cream I've ever had. yum.

[Wyvern]

A few new additions to the junk food connaiseur catalogue:

 

Ben & Jerry's "In a Crunch" Mood Magic ice cream - limited edition - The description on the back of the carton of this flavor seems to suggest that it's oriented towards people with too much work on their hands, so naturally I decided to give it a wiz. ;-) Peanut butter ice cream, chocolate-covered peanuts, and a crunchy fudge swirl are advertised as the ingredients of the flavor. The ice cream and peanuts were typical enough and didn't catch the attention of my taste buds, but the crunchy fudge swirl I found very interesting and original. Think "Nestles Crunch bars before they've been solidified" and you wouldn't be far off. It's worth tasting for this ingredient alone, though once the fudge swirl runs out the ice cream turns rather bland.

 

Hershey's Mocha Almond Bar - limited edition - Yet another "limited edition" marketing ploy of Hershey's, but this bar is surprisingly good. They basically took a Hershey's with Almonds bar and added in mocha coffee bean chips, which they sprinkled over the bar. Very much a Starbucks yuppie orientation, but the combination of mocha and almonds has an undeniable chemistry. This bar gets my seal of recommendation.

 

Reeses Big Cup - limited edition - This is basically another "different shape, different size" variation of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Instead of packaging two cups in a wrapper, it's one larger cup. Apart from a slightly larger amount of peanut butter in the big cup, there's very little that differentiates it from the normal peanut butter cup. But then, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups were pretty darn good to begin with.

[Wyvern]

A few new entries to one of the unhealthiest threads of the Cabaret Room:

 

Hershey's Take 5 Bar - White Chocolate/Peanut Butter Editions - This is a two-in-one review for two slight varients of Hershey's excellent "Take 5" candy bar. These versions replace the milk chocolate coating of the bar with white chocolate and peanut butter coatings respectively. The white chocolate coating didn't seem to mesh with the pretzles and peanut butter that form the base of the bar very well, and I wouldn't recommend it. The peanut butter coating proved to be more interesting, however, and is well worth giving a shot if you're not in a chocolate mood and just feel like peanut butter, pretzles, and caramel (though in my case, non-chocolate moods are somewhat of a rareity).

 

Kit Kat Big Kat - Extra Crispy - This version of Kit Kat's Big Kat bar advertises more crisp wafers in the bar. Upon biting into it, I only noticed a very slight difference from normal Big Kats, but couldn't complain since it's still a damn good candy bar. I think I prefer Big Kats to normal Kit Kats overall; the single candy bar format makes it easier to eat, and there ultimately seems to be more chocolate and wafers in them.

 

Reeses Pieces with Nuts - Think "Peanut M&Ms with Reeses Pieces filling instead of chocolate" and you'll have this candy in a nutshell (no pun intended). I didn't think that the flavor of the Reeses Pieces peanut butter complimented the actual peanuts very well in this varient, which is a little disturbing once you think about it. Then again, as I mentioned before, I'm a man who loves his chocolate, and the M&M comparison was inevitable.

 

Hershey's Kissables - Speaking of M&M comparisons, this is the most eyebrow-raising of the new candies in this listing. It seems that Hershey's have been distancing themselves from sentimentality with each new release of a "Kisses" product, going from "Kisses" to "Hugs" to "Kissables." This candy is oddly a package of miniature candy-coated Hershey's Kisses. Aside from a slight variation in shape, there really isn't anything to distinguish this candy from M&Ms. The underlying question: WHY?

[The Big Pointy One]

Recent discoveries (from the past few months?):

 

 

Thumbs up: Kit Kat Banana: This one doesn't taste much different than a regular Kit Kat, but there is the slight banana flavoring to it that's almost an aftertaste. It's refreshing. The strawberry and orange varieties don't really match up to the goodness of banana; and I normally loooove strawberry (my favourite fruit) and orange. Also in the kit kat product line you have those big ones. Wyv called them 'big kats' ...I'm not sure if they're the same thing up here, but I like the ones I've had. The plain one is good, and I seem to remember enjoying the caramel one. I've yet to try the peanut butter one yet.

 

Thumbs down: Crispy Crunch Ice cream: I like Ice cream. I like Crispy crunch chocolate bars. You'd figure the logical form (I like a. I like b. Therefore I like a+b ) would lead to the logical conclusion. But something is wrong. I guess there's the third premise that's simply I don't like a+b together... anyways. It was okay, but something just didn't work for me. I'm not really a big fan of the 'chocolate bar ice cream' product line. What is good in this area that I haven't had in a while are the Nestle Crunch Ice cream bars. Just your standard chocolate coated ice cream on a stick, but it has those rice crisp thingies like in the chocolate bar, so it's actually pretty good.

 

 

Anyways, I guess that's it for now. Go sweet teeth!

Edited December 11, 2005 by The Big Pointy One

[Quincunx]

I've moved recently, which means a change in the junk food atmosphere--traded access to Marabou (*sob*, oh how I love their creamy textures) for Cadbury, and several other adjustments.

 

Cloetta's "Mums-Mums"* vs Milka's "Melo-Cakes"

 

Same concept: take a wafer about the size of a circled thumb-and-forefinger, ladle a dollop of marshmallow fluff onto it, and cover the whole mound with a semi-sweet chocolate coating. The diffference lies in the base: Cloetta uses a thin, crispy, single-layer wafer while Milka builds off of a thicker cookie-like. . .digestive biscuit, I think? Amazing how that one change makes Mums-mums light and airy while Melo-cakes seem stale and terrible.

 

Ferrero's "Kinder Bueno"

 

Delicious Nutella hazelnut spread inside chocolate. The candy has some air holes in it, since Nutella doesn't really flow like a caramel filling would, but that doesn't diminish the taste.

 

Generalized Cadbury: If I'd eaten it after only having known American chocolates, I would've been more impressed. Now it's just a step and a half down from Marabou. There's a certain not-sweet taste to it that I can't quite identify. While the candy bars disappointed me a little, I can say that Cadbury cocoa makes the best hot chocolate I have ever had. (Maybe there is some correlation here, because the now-second-best cocoa was a Ghiradelli blend at a bookstore, and I will not touch that in bar form.)

 

 

*roughly "yum-yum!"

[Wyvern]

Two new junkfood reviews:

 

M&Ms White Chocolate Pirate Pearls - A new-ish variety of M&Ms that seems to be loosely based on a "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme. Ignoring the pointless skull and crossbone drawings, the main distinction here is that white chocolate is used instead of milk chocolate for the filling. Unfortunately, as an avid white chocolate enthusiast, I have to give this new spin-off a thumbs down. The taste of the white chocolate doesn't seem to blend with the candy coating at all, and Hershey's hasn't exactly been known for its fine white chocolate products. Don't bother with this one.

 

Reeses Peanut Butter Cups with Caramel - Alternative versions of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups have been a mixed bunch, ranging from successes like Nutrageous and Fast Break to embarassments like "Extra Smooth" and "Big Cup." This new version combines Reeses Peanut Butter with a layer of creamy caramel, and the simple concept turns out excellent. The texture of the candy is a highlight here, as the peanut butter and creamy caramel definitely compliment each other in smoothness. The thought of peanut butter and caramel together might not sound appealing on paper, but the two flavors actually work very well together. Recommended.

[madhatter]

madhatter scribbles furiously on a piece of ripped parchment. He brow furrows as he plans his next shopping trip.

 

Yay for candy. Thanks for the posts guys. In all seriousness, I think I'll be trying some of them out.

[Mynx]

*sighs*

Sucks to live in a country that doesn't get half of these...

Oh well.

I'll take my pineapple lumps and twisties...

[Wyvern]

Junkfood Renaissance - Special Ice Cream Edition. I recently experimented with a wide range of new Ben & Jerry's flavors, with some mixed results.

 

Ben & Jerry's "Vermonty Python" Ice Cream - This new flavor heralds the name of Ben & Jerry's state with pride through a combination of coffee liquor ice cream, cookie crumb swirls and novelty fudge cows. The ice cream and cows are both good, but it's the cookie crumb swirl that marks this flavor as one of the best of the new bunch, with a very interesting crunchy texture and great taste. I don't know if this flavor is good enough to merit the signature Ben & Jerry's cow mascots within it, but it's definitely a fine addition to their catalogue and a flavor worth revisiting.

 

Ben & Jerry's "Neapolitan Dynamite" Ice Cream - This is probably the least original of Ben & Jerry's new flavors, but sometimes simplicity yields powerful results. "Neapolitan Dynamite" is simply two of Ben & Jerry's existing flavors, "Chocolate Fudge Brownie" and "Cherry Garcia," set side by side in the same carton. The flavors aren't mixed, but rather split into two perfect halves within the container. Not the most creative flavor, but those that know their Ben & Jerry's know that "Chocolate Fudge Brownie" and "Cherry Garcia" are two of their most critically acclaimed flavors for a good reason. This might a good flavor to introduce people to Ben & Jerry's with.

 

Ben & Jerry's "Turtle Soup" Ice Cream - This one didn't impress me. Ben & Jerry's spin on turtle soup consists of vanilla ice cream, a caramel swirl, and fudge-covered caramel cashews. The obvious highlight of the flavor is the loaded cashews, but they aren't really stunning enough to hold together the blandness of the rest of the flavor. Skip this one, it's a flop.

 

Ben & Jerry's "Baklava" Ice Cream - Now here's a flavor that fully demonstrates Ben & Jerry's knack for twisted experimentation! For those that don't know what Baklava is, it's a pastry consisting of thin bread dough, honey, and chopped nuts. Ben & Jerry's has incorporated this into an ice cream flavor with relative ease, blending an odd mixture of honey ice cream and real chunks of baklava. Whether or not the flavor deserves multiple passes is uncertain, but the scoop that I had of it was very interesting and tasted great. Definitely the most unique of the recent flavor batch, and one of the best.

 

Ben & Jerry's "Key Lime Pie" Ice Cream - I'm biased against this flavor, since I'm not a fan of key lime and would never order a flavor like this on my own. A friend of mine ordered it, however, so I decided to try a spoonful. The key lime flavor in it was way too strong for me to want to take another taste, but I did like the inclusion of little pieces of pie crust. Still, not a flavor that I'd order.

 

Flavors that are still on my taste hitlist: "Black and Tan" (cream stout ice cream mixed with chocolate ice cream), "American Pie" (apple pie ice cream with apples and pie crust pieces) and "Banana on the Rum" (banana ice cream with brown sugar and rum swirl... though not sure if I'm going to try this, since I hate banana ice cream).

[Blondemoon]

Wyv, the "Black and Tan" Ben & Jerry's is ever so yummy! I found it to be better than the "Vermonty Python."

[Wyvern]

Two new junkfood verdicts:

 

Ben & Jerry's "Black and Tan" Ice Cream - I'll cosign Blondemoon's thoughts in saying that this flavor is definitely one of the best of the recent Ben & Jerry's flavor batch. :-) It's not as chunky as I usually like my ice cream flavors, but the cream stout ice cream has a really unique dry-ish taste to it and the chocolate ice cream balances it out by adding a touch of traditional flavor. Additional comedy bonus points added since the person working the register at the ice cream place told me "don't eat and drive" when I picked this one up. Very worth checking out.

 

Hershey's Take 5 Bar - Chocolate Cookie Edition - The most recent variation of "Take 5" falls somewhere inbetween the "White Chocolate" and "Peanut Butter" spin-offs. It's not as bad as the "White Chocolate" version, but not as good as the "Peanut Butter" version (or the original, for that matter). The chocolate cookie interior changes the texture of the bar, making it feel more like a distant relative of "Twix" than a cousin of "Take 5." Still, it's certainly not a bad bar, and it did sooth my sweet tooth's cravings.

 

Dr. Pepper - Berries and Cream - The "Dr. Pepper" tag on this new brand of soda has very little to do with the actual flavor, as it carries no remnants of the traditional Dr. Pepper taste. Instead, the soda tastes like a lighter cross between "Vanilla Coke" and "Fanta," with the faux-vanilla taste being the more dominant. The first few sips were interesting, but it quickly lost its appeal after that. Then again, I've never been a fan of "Vanilla Coke."

[Quincunx]

Recently, I was wandering down the supermarket aisles, looking for a decent chocolate chip cookie: Chocolate Chunk Cookie. . .Biscuit with Chocolate Chips (I winced--British usage). . .TimTams. . .wait, I've heard of those! Our New Zealanders swore by them, several times, in the Shoutbox. Arnott's TimTams, "imported directly from Australia", proclaimed itself as a fine-textured chocolate biscuit (I winced again) with chocolate coating. Thick chocolate coating too, they did not skimp, although they managed to give it the same melting point as butter and a third of it ended up on my fingertips. The inner. . .biscuit. . .was supremely fine and flaky, of the exact same chocolate taste as the coating, and disintegrated the instant it was on my tongue--low melting point seems to be key to this TimTam. It was well-made, balanced between chocolate flavor and sweetness, but I didn't like it. Eating it was like going to a steak restaurant in street clothes: the treat was tender and high-class, but if you're prepared for something sturdy, you're still going to be a shade disappointed.

[Wyvern]

The recent emergence of a new batch of Ben & Jerry's flavors merits a taste-testing report here, especially given the highly experimental nature of this batch of flavors. This is possibly the most unappetizing-looking set of flavors that Ben & Jerry's has ever put out. Still, braving the waters yielded some tasty results. The flavors in question:

 

Ben & Jerry's Stephen Colbert's American Dream Ice Cream - Yet another celebrity-oriented Ben & Jerry's flavor, this one associated to the comedian Stephen Colbert. Fortunately, Colbert's tastes pull through, as the combination of vanilla bean ice cream, caramel swirl, and chocolate-covered waffle cone pieces is a very nice blend. The waffle cone pieces offer a pretty unique flavor that courses through the vanilla ice cream, and the caramel enrichens the whole thing. My only complaint is that the waffle cone pieces are not as large as the chunks I usually expect from Ben & Jerry's flavors. This is the most tasty-looking of the new flavors, and pretty much meets the expectations set by the carton. Worth trying.

 

Ben & Jerry's Crème Brûlée Ice Cream - I love the occasional crème brûlée for dessert as much as the next person, but the concept of crème brûlée ice cream disgusted me at first. I mean, isn't the purpose of a blowtorched dessert sort of defeated when it's frozen in a carton? Still, I was curious enough to give it a shot, and I must say that Ben & Jerry's have made me eat my words. Their Crème Brûlée flavor is excellent, and is possibly the highlight of their recent batch. The vanilla-custard ice cream and caramel swirl are quite a unique taste to begin with, but it's the pieces of crème brûlée crust that really bump this flavor to another level. The crust is exactly what you'd expect from a crème brûlée: crunchy and chewy at the same time, plus loaded with caramel flavor. They add a texture and flavor to the ice cream that definitely make it a keeper... I only had a scoop, but could probably have gone with a whole carton.

 

Ben & Jerry's Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream - Eeehhhhh, no thanks. This is probably the most disgusting-looking out of all the new flavors, and unfortunately it doesn't quite make the grade for me. To its credit, the flavor is not half as bad as its title, ingredients, or Cinnamon Bun packaging would suggest. In fact, major fans of cinnamon might be able to get a lot out of this flavor, as it consists of cinnamon ice cream with a generous cinnamon swirl and pieces of cinnamon bun dough. I think I'm unfortunately biased against the flavor as I've never been a fan of cinnamon buns to begin with, and this ice cream pretty much stays true to their flavor. I finished my cone, but doubt that I'd order it again.

 

Ben & Jerry's Banana Split Ice Cream - Strawberry and banana ice cream with a fudge swirl, fudge chunks, and walnuts; all of which are meant to emulate the experience of having a banana split sundae, of course. I'm generally not a fan of banana ice cream, including the Ben & Jerry's flavor "Chunky Monkey" which I consider one of their rare misses, but my curiousity got the best me and I gave this one a shot. It's not something that I regret trying, but is probably not something I would order again. The most interesting combination of tastes in this flavor is the way the fudge swirl compliments the banana ice cream, but I'm still not a fan of banana ice cream (or fruit ice cream in general, for that matter).

 

Ben & Jerry's Willie Nelson's Country Peach Cobbler Ice Cream - Another real oddity here... Ben & Jerry's take on peach cobbler combines peach ice cream with a peach swirl and pieces of shortbread. The peach flavor was surprisingly refreshing, despite my general distaste for fruit ice cream, but the peach swirl had a very strange texture to it. I'm not sure if it's because it's actually a peach and shortbread swirl, or if it's a case of ice cream temperature and the slow thawing process, but the swirl of peach seemed to be anything but smooth. Still, the shortbread pieces were quite a nice touch, and I think there may have been some small peach chunks to dig into as well. Not a bad flavor overall, but nothing mindblowing either.

 

Ben & Jerry's Fossil Fuel Ice Cream (with New Crunchy Fudge Swirl) - This is not really from the new batch of flavors, just a revision of one of Ben & Jerry's old flavors. The revision is substantial enough to merit its own review, however, as the new crunchy fudge swirl makes Fossil Fuel taste and feel like an entirely new flavor. I think that ultimately, the change is for the better... I've dismissed the Fossil Fuel flavor in the past for being a pale imitation of the superior Dublin Mudslide flavor, but this new fudge swirl sort of kills that comparison. The swirl consists of what feels like melted Nestle Crunch bars, and the vanilla cream ice cream and chocolate chocolate chip cookies remain great. Recommended.

 

In terms of other new flavors, I still need to try Banana Split and [edited: 5/26/07] Willie Nelson's Peach Cobbler[edited: 7/21/07]. I'll edit this post with reviews of'em once I get around to them (if I get around to them).

[Disco-neck Ted]

Most pennites are probably unaffected, but this seemed worth mentioning:

 

Mars bars get veggie status back

 

Mars has abandoned plans to use animal products in its chocolate, and has apologised to "upset" vegetarians. The firm had said it would change the whey used in some of its products from a vegetarian source to one with traces of the animal enzyme, rennet.

 

The Vegetarian Society organised a campaign against the move, asking members to voice their concerns to parent company Masterfoods.

 

Mars said it became "very clear, very quickly" that it had made a mistake.

 

In just one week, more than 6,000 people bombarded the company, which produces the Mars, Snickers, Maltesers and Galaxy brands, with phone and e-mail complaints.

 

Forty MPs also signed a petition to voice their opposition.

 

Fiona Dawson, managing director of Mars UK, said the company had listened to customers and decided to reverse its decision.

 

 

Full article here:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6673549.stm

Edited May 21, 2007 by Disco-neck Ted

[Wyvern]

So, I recently had the opportunity to hang out with a certain awesome Mynx-ish pennite with a really cool NZ cowboy hat in San Francisco, and she was kind enough to give me two bags of odd New Zealand exclusive candy to try: Jaffas and Pineapple Lumps. After a few taste tests and experiments, here are my thoughts:

 

Jaffas - These orange-coated chocolate candies resemble Maltezers in shape and size, with an orange hue that might also suggest a Supermarket gumball of some sort. In terms of texture and taste, I would say that they're closer to Smarties (the Euro version of M&Ms, for those that don't know), with a fairly thick shell and some solid chocolate in the middle. A bit deceiving since the cover of the package says "chocolate filled" and shows what appears to be creamy liquid chocolate, but it's not the first moment of that sort of advertising and the chocolate in the middle tastes quite good. One thing that I should definitely say in favor of Jaffas is that the orange flavor of their shells is more of a citrus orange flavor than many American orange candies, and is quite distinctive. My initial thoughts on the candy were "too much shell, not enough chocolate" (also my verdict on Smarties for the record, have always preferred M&Ms), but they've grown on me with repeated tastes and I could definitely see myself occasionally buying a bag of these and downing them. You gotta love the name of this candy as well... it seems almost impossible to say it without a New Zealand accent. "Jaffas." ;-D

 

Pineapple Lumps - This candy has a rather unfortunate name in my opinion, since eating "Pineapple Lumps" sounds about as appealing as buying yourself some "Vegan Trail Mix" to fulfill your sugar quota. Anyway, apparently Pineapple Lumps are another candy "unique to New Zealand like Jandals, Paviova and the Haka" (according to the back of the wrapper), and they're also advertised as having "Real Fruit Juice" in them on the front which somehow led me to believe that they'd be juicy in some way. In actuality, Pineapple Lumps consist of a very chewy piece of tough pineapple candy with a thin layer of chocolate coating it, which actually tastes pretty good put together. One problem I have with Pineapple Lumps though is the texture of the pineapple candy, which starts off super tough and chewy and then kind of feels like chewing old gum for a bit before finishing off sweet with its pineapple flavor. The chewing gum phase of the candy is not my favorite, though I've never been that huge a fun of extremely chewy candies in general. Another thing I should note about Pineapple Lumps is that on the back of the wrapper, it recommends that you try refrigerating them, and it turns out that the texture of the candy changes quite drastically when refrigerated. Post-fridge Pineapple Lumps start out crunchy, which is rather appealing, then move into the chewing gum phase (which is inescapable) and finish off sweet. I think that overall I prefer refrigerated Pineapple Lumps to Pineapple Lumps right out the bag, though I would take Jaffas over either of them any day. Interesting candy, but not the most appealing in my humble opinion (which is not to say I won't eat them, cus' let's face it, I'm a junkfood addict!).

 

Thank you once again for the candies, Mynx. Hope you enjoy your traditional American salt water taffee, muahahahaha...

[Wyvern]

Wanted to take a moment to jot down my thoughts on a few more Euro/NZ candies that I received in the mail for the holiday season. :-)

 

Cadbury Moros - Donning the slogan "More get more go," this candy bar seems to be advertised as some sort of energy bar... even the bold yellow font of the packaging screams "energy booster." In reality, Moros are more like the European Cadbury version of Mars Milkyway, which is fortunate since we all know how terrible energy bars tend to taste. The blend of nougat, caramel and milk chocolate in this bar definitely has a strong Mars influence, though the chocolate of Moros is better since it's Cadbury. Quite good.

 

Cadbury Crunchie - This tasty bar is a blend of crunchy honeycomb and milk chocolate, which may seem simple but which is pretty much unheard of in the US candy bar circuit. The most unique element of this bar is the honeycomb, which is fairly light though very thick compared to the chocolate coating. Normally I'd say that a bar like this is too crunchy for my taste, but I liked the honeycomb filling quite a bit, perhaps because I'm hard-pressed to find any US equivalent for it. Good stuff.

 

Pascall Jet Planes - I'm generally not that big a fan of fruit candies, but I found these chewy fruit planes very flavorful and kind of addictive. There's a certain sourness in them that's edgy compared to a lot of US fruit stuff, and I found myself tearing through a bunch of'em whilst watching a movie. Plus, the shape of these candies were just begging me to catch a private jet to New Zealand or something. Nice candy, even better subliminal message.

 

Pascall Clinkers - I was not quite as big a fan of these as I was of the other candies, but these Clinkers do have their merits. They're shaped like little chocolate eggs but are filled with a crunchy fruit candy interior, the taste of which varies. Out of the three flavors, strawberry was definitely the standout and was downright good after a few tastes, perfectly complimenting the chocolate coating. Lime was an interesting and unusual flavor, but ultimately grew a little tiresome after a couple of tries. The weak link of the bunch was Lemon, though, with its a gummy aftertaste kind of dragging Clinkers down to a lower status than the other candies mentioned. Still, not bad. If they package Clinkers in a strawberry exclusive variety, sign me up!

 

Thanks once again to the feline sender. :-)

[Wyvern]

A few new junkfoods judged under the heat of almost dragonic tastebuds:

 

Strawberry Peanut Butter M&Ms - These are unfortunately every bit as bad as they sound! Peanut Butter M&Ms were not terribly appetizing to begin with, but adding a strawberry flavoring to the candy coating is just overkill and the combination of flavors tastes awkward. Further detracting from the candy's credibility is the gimmicky ad campaign revolving around Transformer M&Ms, which look like something that Autobots and Decepticons would team up to destroy. One tiny slim bag of these and I was tired of them before they were gone... Avoid.

 

Oreo Cakesters - I'm a big fan of most things Oreo (best fro-yo topping everrr), but was a bit skeptical of these when I first spotted them on the shelves. The thought of pre-packaged cakes with oreo filling between them made me fear something more akin to Hostess Cupcakes than to the Oreo we've come to know and love. Well, I finally caved in and let my curiosity lead me to buying a pack, and you know what? They taste exactly like Hostess Cupcakes! Pretty bad, the sort of stuff that you can see yourself getting sick off of if you eat more than two in a sitting. Not recommended, unless you're into the whole pre-packaged pastry thing.

 

Ben & Jerry's Mission to Marzipan Ice Cream - Balancing out the negativity of this post is this innovative new flavor from the exceptionally creative minds at Ben & Jerry's HQ. Their latest oddity is a combination of sweet cream ice cream, almond cookies, and a marzipan swirl... and the experiment is a success. Granted, it's not my very favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor or anything, but it's undeniably unique and I could see myself picking it up ever so often. Opinions of this flavor will widely vary depending on one's take on marzipan, which is an acquired taste and not up everyone's alley. If you can get down with marzipan or really enjoy it, I would definitely recommend giving this flavor a shot. Especially since the almond cookie chunks are rather tasty!